Reddit Reddit reviews An Invitation To Indian Cooking

We found 2 Reddit comments about An Invitation To Indian Cooking. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

Cookbooks, Food & Wine
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Regional & International Cooking & Wine
Asian Cooking, Food & Wine
Indian Cooking, Food & Wine
An Invitation To Indian Cooking
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2 Reddit comments about An Invitation To Indian Cooking:

u/Astro_nauts_mum · 3 pointsr/AskCulinary

Hi again,
I have learnt the little I know through reading (and cooking). Especially Madhur Jaffrey http://www.amazon.com/An-Invitation-To-Indian-Cooking/dp/0880016647 and Monisha Bharadwaj http://www.amazon.co.uk/Indian-Kitchen-Monisha-Bharadwaj/dp/1856266591
I will copy a few paragraphs out by Madhur Jaffrey that I hope will clarify what I mean:

Sometimes as you glance at a couple of recipes, the spices used may look identical, which may lead you to the conclusion that the two dishes will taste the same. But that is not necessarily true. It is not only what spices you use, but also how you use them that gives dishes their special taste and appearance. Take cumin for instance. If it is roasted whole and crushed, its coffee colour will darken the looks of any food and its strong aroma will fill not just your kitchen, but your entire house. This way it has a sharp, nutty taste. Whole cumin, when it is 'popped' in very hot fat, has a mild aroma and a gentle, licorice-like taste. Ground, unroasted cumin provides a third flavour, and perhaps the mildest taste of the three.

Different spices require different treatment during cooking. Turmeric burns easily and becomes bitter, so it is generally used in conjunction with some liquid. Saffron gives of its best colour when lightly roasted, crushed and then left to soak in warm milk. Too many fenugreek seeds can make a dish bitter, so while you can play around with the number of peppercorns or cardamom pods you put in a dish, you cannot do the same with fenugreek.

Spices, herbs and other seasonings are always added to the cooking pot in a specific order, and this again changes the taste of the dish. For example, if a hot, dried pepper is browned in oil and then mixed with cooked lentils, the lentils will not be very hot, but will have gained the subtle flavour of the pepper. On the other hand, if the pepper is browned in oil first and cooked with the lentils, you will end up with a fairly hot dish. This applies to nearly all the spices as each has their own peculiarities. The order in which they are put into the pot is extremely important.

u/[deleted] · 1 pointr/AskReddit

Others have mentioned Mark Bittman already, and I would recommend his above all others. Even though it is not 100% vegetarian, I would also recommend the Italian cookbook The Silver Spoon. Another not 100% vegetarian I would go for is An Invitation to Indian Cooking.